Method of preparing pigments.



,a' citizen of the United States, at Niagara Falls,

UITE STATES I FREDERICK M. BECKE'I, OF NIAGARA FALLS,

NEW YORK, ASSIGNOB '10 ELECTED METALLURGICAL COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N.Y., A CORPORATION OF WEST VIRGINIA.

976,337 g No Drawing.

Specification of Letters Patent. I Patented Nov, 22, 1910 Applicationfiled September 18, 1908. Serial No. 453,587.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK M. BECKET, v residing in the county ofNiagara and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Methods of Preparing Pigments, of which the following isa specification.

The object of this invention is to provide a method of preparing highlyrefractory pi ents which may exhiblt brilliant and re atively permanentcolor effects.

According to the invention a refractory metallic body is firstcomminuted to the degree of fineness desired for the pigment, and isthereafter subjected to heat and to the action of a aseous medium fordeveloping the color, t e temperature and the gas supply being regulatedto control the color of the product.

It is frequently observed that the surfaces of fracture of certainrefractory metallic products present areas which are highly and usuallyyery .irregularly colored, this effect being more particularly noted inthe case of pigs or ingots of the metal or alloy which have been broken.while still at a comparatively high temperature and permitted to coolin contact with air. carbid be fractured at a high temperature andexposed to air during cooling the fractured surfaces will often be foundto exhibit brilliant color elfects wherein yellow, green, blue or redmaypredominate in accordance with the condltions, all of these colorsbeing usually presented in irregular areas. 'The same effect may besecuredby heatingin air a block or fragment of the same material.Similar effects, with varying colors, are exhibited by other refractorymetallic products, and notably by alloys containing iron, chromium andSll1001'1,01 iron, man anese and silicon. To some extent the eect isalso characteristic of ferromanganese.

I have discovered that if metallic prod- Thus if titanium yellowpigments presumably ue to a nitrid of the bein meta In such case theeffect is not masked by the presence of carbon even in the proportionrequired to form the carbid TiC. The same compound, carefully ignited inair oroxidizing media, may yield blue, green, or red pigments ofsubstantially uniform character and remarkable brilliance andpermanence.

The pigments may be pre ared spreading the comminuted meta ic pro not ina comparativel thin layer over which a current of heate gas is led; orthe powder may be heated independently while subjected to the action ofthe gas. In an case the temperature and composition 0 the gas must becarefully controlled to secure the desired product- In order to obtainpigments of substantially. uniform color it is desirable that the powdershould be more or less continuously agitated while exposed to theaction-of the gas, and this may be eifected by any desired means, as forinstance by conducting the operation in rotary vessels, tubes or drums,or in vessels prov ded with a tatin devices, heat being imparted to t epow er either from the gas current or otherwise. I 'i li h d f 1. e met0 0 re arin i ents from refractory bodies v hich coiis i la s in firstcomminuting to the degree of fineness required for the pigment arefractory body capable of developmg a color when heated in contact witha gas, and then heating the comminuted body in presence of the gas, and

regulatin thetemperature and gas supply nuted body, and heating the samein presence to contro the color of the pigment. of the gas to developthe color. 10 2. The method of preparing pigments In testimony whereof,I, aflix my signa from refractory bodies, which conslsts in ture inpresence of two witnesses.

5 first comminuting to the degree of fineness FREDERICK M. BEGKET.

required for the pigment a refractory body Witnesses: capable ofdeveloping a color when heated in J. N. DEINHARDT,

contact with a gas, agitatingthe commi- DEAN BURGESS.

